Preliminary estimation of the organic carbon pool in China’s wetlands

Accurate estimation of wetland carbon pools is a prerequisite for wetland resource conservation and implementation of carbon sink enhancement plans. The inventory approach is a realistic method for estimating the organic carbon pool in China’s wetlands at the national scale. An updated data and inventory approach were used to estimate the amount of organic carbon stored in China’s wetlands. Primary results are as follows: (1) the organic carbon pool of China’s wetlands is between 5.39 and 7.25 Pg, accounting for 1.3%–3.5% of the global level; (2) the estimated values and percentages of the organic carbon contained in the soil, water and vegetation pools in China’s wetlands are 5.04–6.19 Pg and 85.4%–93.5%, 0.22–0.56 Pg and 4.1%–7.7%, 0.13–0.50 Pg and 2.4%–6.9%, respectively. The soil organic carbon pool of China’s wetlands is greater than our previous estimate of 3.67 Pg, but is lower than other previous estimates of 12.20 and 8–10 Pg. Based on the discussion and uncertainty analysis, some research areas worthy of future attention are presented.